North Florida Nesties
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Talk to me about trading in your car.
I might've found a car in my price range. I've got money saved for a down payment, but when you trade in your old car for the new, that goes towards your down payment right? I should get about $3000 on a trade in, at least thats what i was quoted. I've never bought a car, my first car was a "gift" but I paid my dad back for half of it. My current car used to be my mom's, they traded in my old car for her new one and then I got her old one, if that makes any sense. I dont know anything about buying or trading a car, so any tips would be awesome. TIA 
Re: Talk to me about trading in your car.
Get preapproved for a loan (possibly with a CU) before you go to the dealership.
Absolutely do not finance for more than three years.
Trade in amount can go towards the downpayment, but you'll get more money from selling it privately.
Don't let them talk to you in terms of monthly payments instead of just bottom line.
These are all lessons I learned the hard way when H and I bought my car.
Here's an article that breaks stuff down and seems helpful:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/buying-selling/car-buying.htm
But when we buy our next car, we're looking at buying online. Here's a good article about that:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/car-buying-advice/guide-to-new-car-buying/at-the-dealership/buying-online/index.htm
I'd also consider asking MM for tips.
How is it that my BABY is going to be 3?
BFP-2/25/11; 8 Wk U/S-3/25/11-No HB, measured 6.5 wks; D&C
When we traded in my car for new, we got the top of the KBB range. The dealership said there's a high demand for used cars right now, so they're paying to get them. I don't know if that's true across the board, or if it was just the dealer I worked with.....but regardless, I was very surprised at how much we got for my POS trade. I just wanted to add that to offer some hope that you may actually get what you want for it. Look it up on KBB, I'd at least count on the midline amount.
More suggestions: Treat the trade-in as a separate deal. Most dealers will "say" they're giving you $3k for your trade-in, but they're really just giving you $1500 plus the $1500 promo from the maker included in the new car anyway. It's all accounting tricks.
Negotiate the price on the new car first, to the terms that you want, looking at the bottom line price. As pp said above, not based on payments, and I've always been told no longer than 4 years, but 3 is definitely better if you can work that! You'll take much less of an initial hit on the car's value after purchase. If they ask if you have a trade-in, tell them you're not sure yet or that you're planning to sell it yourself. Go to CarMax and get an appraisal, I've found that printed offer is really useful.
KBB is sometimes not as useful, depending on the make/model. Most dealers rely more heavily on NADA. You can go to their website at nada.com and get a quote. You have to pay for it, but it's about $10, and much more reliable.
Another thing: get offers on your trade-in from several dealers if possible. Depending on their inventory, you may get a better price at a different dealer.
"My 101 List - Updating asap, I swear!